Jersey Journal file photoHarold "Hal" Turner, 48, of North Bergen was sentenced to 33 months in prison today for threatening three Chicago judges.

NEW YORK — Harold "Hal" Turner, the North Bergen Internet shock jock, was sentenced to nearly three years in prison today for threatening three Chicago federal judges.

Turner was sentenced to 33 months in the same Brooklyn courthouse where he endured three trials for the same charges. The first two trials ended with deadlocked juries. Turner, 48, was convicted at the third trial in August.

The Record of Bergen County reported that Turned expected to be sentenced to 10 years. The 33-month sentence is on the low side of the federal sentencing guidelines.

Turner made headlines in Hudson County and beyond with his right-wing, anti-Semitic, racist rhetoric on both is Internet radio show and on his blog. He later claimed that the persona was created to root out radical groups such as white supremicists for the federal government.

At his trials the government confirmed that Turner did work for and with federal agencies, but that he went too far with his hate-filled remarks.

The case stemmed from the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in 2009 by three judges that upheld a district court decision dismissing lawsuits that challenged handgun bans in Chicago and Oak Park, Ill.

Turner protested the decision with inflammatory remarks posted on the Internet. Prosecutors said he crossed the line by declaring, ``These judges must die.''

Turner had claimed his tirades were protected by the constitutional right to free speech.